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PhysX

CliveClive Member Posts: 65
in Fallen Earth

Check out FE's website for info on a possibly revolutionary new technology that will be used with their game. I've sent them an email regarding this with some questions, I'll postthe transcript on here when I get a reply.

-Clive

Comments

  • sinothsinoth Member Posts: 175

    Sorry, but I don't see anything on the site relating to "PhysX", could you possibly provide us a link or some more info?

    http://www.fallenearth.se - Your source for Fallen Earth information

  • CliveClive Member Posts: 65

    It's under "In the press" section newest article, the company is Ageia, cant miss it,

  • adriradrir Member Posts: 101

    Originally posted by sinoth
    Sorry, but I don't see anything on the site relating to "PhysX", could you possibly provide us a link or some more info?

    Icarus Studios have been collaborating with Ageia Technologies with the implementation of a new hardware-accelerated physics technology. Hence, Fallen Earth will be supported by the new PhysX processor, enabling the game to utilise new groundbreaking advances in game physics and the related gameplay mechanisms.

    The article is available here: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051011/sftu110.html

    This does however present an issue of hardware dependence since the article implies that gamers may have to purchase and install the new PCI card in order to play the game.

  • sinothsinoth Member Posts: 175

    What do you guys think about that? As long as the card is relatively inexpensive (under $60 or so), I think its a great idea. It is kind of strange to purchase a PCI card just to be able to play a game, but if they are pioneering a technology then I say go for it.

    I do hope you can run the game both with and without the card though.. I'm on a gaming laptop right now and a PCI card isn't exactly an option ::::21::

    http://www.fallenearth.se - Your source for Fallen Earth information

  • TempEchoTempEcho Member Posts: 16

    I've heard about that technology. It's like a specialized CPU for physics, right?
    The question that begs to be awnsered is : Why do fairly complex games like F.E.A.R. and Quake 4 work fine on any CPU above 2GhZ, but a MMORPG like Fallen Earth needs a specialized physics CPU? That's kind of odd. Maybe it is an extra option you can enable when you want to, if you have one of those cards to take some load of your CPU? I don't think people will buy an Ageia card just for Fallen Earth, it's just to big of an investement if that is the only game.

  • BlackmoorBlackmoor Member Posts: 96

    Not a big deal for me since it will be the newest thing my comp has seen in a while 8P.

    Ahh the explosions, the bullet hits , the car crashes. All the fun with none of the jail time. It should make combat a ton of fun :)

  • TempEchoTempEcho Member Posts: 16

    F.E.A.R can do physics like realistic fire, rolling barreld, particles etc. without such a card, in real time, on my 2 year old PC. So I pray they make it optional, and not force it. That would be bad for buissines.

  • z80paranoiaz80paranoia Member Posts: 410

    i was going to buy a physx card anyway so im glad a game is coming out that supports it and i hope its not the only one

    Guild Wars 2 is my religion

  • CliveClive Member Posts: 65

    First of all I dont think any one will require you have it, secondly the card will be 200-300$ I think from what I've read. Third, I'm not sure but will FEAR and Q4 allow you to alter terrain in real time? Ragdoll body effects etc are kind of the norm now but the total sandbox mode FE is offering (at least I think they are offering) is a lot more demanding physics wise.

    Check this site out

    http://www.ageia.com/physxInAction/avis.html


    download the airtight avi, you'll see what I mean

  • fedesignfedesign Member Posts: 11

    With regard to the physics card, it won't be required to play the game.  However, you won't get to see all the cool effects if you don't have the card.  You'll see most of the cool effects but not quite all.  Not having the card won't affect your game play at all. 

    The card will only enhance your Fallen Earth experience--it won't be required to play the game.  But we hope you'll all get the card so that you'll get to enjoy Fallen Earth in all it's physical glory.

     

  • sinothsinoth Member Posts: 175

    Good to hear, especially for those of us with gaming laptops. Can't wait to see some of this technology in action ::::02::

    http://www.fallenearth.se - Your source for Fallen Earth information

  • TempEchoTempEcho Member Posts: 16

    That is very nice of you, I don't know how I would be able to convince my parents to put yet another new card in the PC (upgraded my videocard recently). It would be nice to see some with/without screenshots, to convince me/them ::::02::

  • StowawayStowaway Member Posts: 165

    i need a new card anyway. ::::28::

  • darkasterdarkaster Member Posts: 187

    /panic off

    ::::02::

    Now if i could only scrounge up 2-300$...

    1000000
  • XilanxivXilanxiv Member Posts: 22

    It's like this: don't eat at Mcd's one day a week, and save the $5. By the time the game comes out you should have enough to by the card.

  • StowawayStowaway Member Posts: 165

    I dont eat at McDs.

  • TempEchoTempEcho Member Posts: 16

    I'm a vegetarian... (please excuse any spelling errors, youknow, Dutch ::::39::), but I know how to save money, that just doesn't mean i'm willing to spend it on anything. What if it flops?

  • sinothsinoth Member Posts: 175

    It sounds like the PhysX card will be used in most next generation games, so you're not really buying it just for FE. I hope the concept catches on, the idea of hardware accelerated physics is awesome.

    http://www.fallenearth.se - Your source for Fallen Earth information

  • TempEchoTempEcho Member Posts: 16

    Indeed, it is. But just like most people, I will wait and see how the early adopters like it.

  • StowawayStowaway Member Posts: 165

    sure, im not gonna buy it before i get fallen earth.


    i'll get fallen earth and see how it plays , graphics aren't the be all and end all for me and as long as its running well and looks ok, im good.


    ::::16:: this interview and latest news and bits of info has just reignited my unbearable desire to play this game right now ::::06::

  • CliveClive Member Posts: 65

    Hmm FeDesign beat me to it,


    As promised here's an answer to my email (folks were right they do actually respond!)

    Jesse Comb wrote:
    I read the article on your site and looked around on Ageia. I’m, just wondering how much this PPU would change the way your game will be played. Will those who invest the 200-300$ for the PCI card see a significant difference in their performance and even get a tangible “edge” on other gamers in PvP? Will this create 2 different sets of sys reqs (a lower set with the ppu). i.e. If I have only X amount to spend on upgrading my system would I be better off to buy the ppu or upgrade my other components. Needless to say having this new technology is exciting, and provides further understanding to how you plan to implement, if you don’t mind me saying so, fantastic claims.

    Thanks for your time,

    Jesse “Clive” Comb


    No need to worry dear fan :-)
    The hardware acceleration will not be a requiremement to play the game. It will have no effect on gameplay if you don't have it.
    Our partner also has a software solution and it looks great already in our internal tests.
    Of course, if you have the hardware, it will look even better... but it won't affect gamplay and give an unfair edge..
    Peace,
    Christophe

  • TempEchoTempEcho Member Posts: 16

    Thats good news, and like I said before in the "Some awnsers from Icarus" thread, they acctualy do resond, stylish ::::02::

  • DatawightDatawight Member Posts: 21

    Here's how I see it..

    Look back to the old old games out there.. back when video cards were a twinkle in someones eye. What you could do with graphics was severally limited and all pushed through the same pipe.

    The video card comes along and the drivers and suites for them.. the options for what game developers could do with the graphics in their games just multiplied by 100. Today we're almost to the point of realism in graphics that is scary when you look at the graphics from 10 years ago.

    Now.. physics in games works basically the same way. All the physics information is being pushed through the same CPU that's responsible for everything else the game is doing save the graphics.

    In a single player game you can live with this and work with it. You only have one character dealing with those psychics. Trying to push that same information through 2 to X number of machines/players and you run into issues. One character does something and 10 other people have to see the physical results and your talking a good bit of server CPU power.

    Take a addon card that handles that information solely, set it up so the event is just a simple flag that is sent to all the client machines, the server just stores the coor. and the event flag, every time that flag is issued when a player sees that area, the card does its job on the client side, and alot of this issue goes away. IE alot less network traffic..

    One other big plus from the development side of things.. if I understand it correctly.. part of using the addon and enabling the PhysX card for your game also gives you the SDK to work with. IE - you don't have to spend the time programming all the physics for your game, its in the kit. All you have to do is incorparate the links to the already setup physics computations. Leaving the developers more time to work on content and other things.

    Little something to add to this.. original article can be found at:
    John Carmack's QuakeCon 2005 Keynote Address


    Physics acceleration's prospects
    Carmack said he considers the prospects for the upcoming physics acceleration chip on the PC iffy, because physics presents a very fundamental problem that graphics doesn't have: it isn't easily scalable for level of detail. Either an object in the game is a true physics object with which other objects can interact, or it isn't. Carmack predicted this constraint would lead to a number of physics-accelerated titles where acceleration affects only elements, such as flowing water, that are peripheral to the core gameplay experience.

    Another of his concerns about physics acceleration was speed, not in the sense of peak processing throughput but in terms of the immediacy of real-time interactions. Carmack recalled that the first pre-3dfx graphics chips made Quake feel slower due to lag between user input and visual output. He worried that the first generation of physics chips could cause similar problems, leaving us with games that are fragile and slow. He also happily conceded that he is more of a graphics guy than a physics guy, and admitted that his worries about the bar being raised in physics are probably similar to the worries other have had about his own standard-setting work in graphics.

    Datawight - Speed is Life, Glory a Necessity, Death a Given!

  • drycatdrycat Member Posts: 119
    great post wight image 
  • AtheraalAtheraal Member Posts: 90

    Hmm, the introduction of this physics card makes me wonder what the next progression will be... Perhaps an independent processor dedicated to AI? I read somewhere (possibly here) that AI is one of the heaviest loads that gets placed on MMORPG servers.

    Maybe...?

    ___________________
    image

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